


It's All in the Timing

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Gen, Marriage Proposal, Rose Tyler Loves the Doctor, The Doctor Loves Rose Tyler, Time Travel, general feelings of sappiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22686187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: The first time the Doctor says he loves Rose isn't the first time she's heard it from him. The first time Rose says she loves the Doctor isn't the first time he's heard it from her. But even with all of time and space between them, they're bound to get the timing right eventually.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Rose Tyler
Comments: 22
Kudos: 124





	It's All in the Timing

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“You already have.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious here.”

“So am I,” the Doctor insisted. “I know what you’re going to tell me because you already told me.”

Rose put her hands on her hips. “What makes you so sure it’s the same secret?”

There was a sappy look on the Doctor’s face that didn’t seem to exist for anyone but Rose, and it always made her heart melt a little bit to see it. “Because you asked me the exact same way the first time. Well, a bit more sloshed, I think, but basically it was the same.”

Rose frowned. “Oh. Well, then I’ll just-”

She turned to go, but the Doctor reached out to snag her elbow, and spun her around as he pulled her closer to his chest. “I might already know, but it wouldn’t hurt to hear it again.”

Rose gave the Doctor a long, searching look. She didn’t think that he would make fun of her about something like this, but it was always difficult to say with him. He was a tad too unserious about certain things that were meant to be taken very seriously. But she didn’t see any signs of his usual playfulness, just an intense look in his gaze that made it feel like he was trying to look all the way through her. 

It was strange, that time travel and such meant that she’d already told the Doctor those three words that she’d just now built up the courage to say. “Would you- I mean, I’m not trying to presume or anything but do you- are you going to say it back?”

She bit her lip almost hard enough to make it bleed as she waited for his answer. He immediately broke eye contact, and that seemed like more than enough of a response, though he tried to verbalize it as well. “It’s not that I don’t- Rose, I just-” he cut himself off and let out a frustrated sigh before continuing in a rough whisper. “I’ve already given you more than I’ve ever given anyone before. Can’t that be enough?”

Knowing the Doctor as well as she did, Rose knew that even that small confession had to have been painful enough for him. She wasn’t cruel enough to try and make him say the actual words. Wasn’t it enough that she felt them in the way he always held her hand, and gave her that big grin, and ran to hug her after even the slightest danger, and brought her to visit her mum all the time, and cooked her favorite foods for her birthday (even if he had made a charred mess of it)? 

But still, even if it was easier for Rose, being a mortal human and all, that didn’t mean it was her ideal state of being to make herself so vulnerable. So she gave him a loving look, and leaned forward to press her face to his chest. His arms automatically moved to wrap around her, and he rested the side of his head on top of hers. “If I’ve told you before, then I don’t need to say it again. It hasn’t changed- or won’t change? I don’t know when I told you. But I can’t be the only one to say it.”

She felt the way the Doctor’s chest expanded and then shrank as he took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. “I understand.” He didn’t try very hard to hide the disappointment in his voice, but Rose remained strong. She couldn’t be the only one to put her feelings on the line, and he seemed to understand that. 

They clung to each other for a little while longer, until the Doctor grew too restless and had to break apart. He danced over to the console, and then extended one hand to Rose. “So, where are we going for our next adventure, then?”

Rose snorted and gave a light shake of her head. “Well I don’t know about you, but I know that I’m going to bed. Maybe you can keep going without rest, but I’m only human, and we were running around all day.” She did move closer to him, though. How could she stop herself when he was the sun and she was a little planet helpless to do anything but revolve around him? Before she could chicken out, Rose stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to the Doctor’s cheek. He looked shocked by the gesture of affection, and Rose smothered a giggle as she turned and left the console room so that she could make her way to her own bedroom. It was always nice to be reminded that even a nine hundred year old Time Lord couldn’t know everything that was going to happen.  
,,,

The Doctor looked up at the stars, and decided that the view from Ralitros VII really was the best. He tilted his head to look over at the propped open TARDIS door. “Rose, get out here before you miss the comet shower!”

When she called back, her voice sounded like it came from very far away. “If I miss it, we can just come back and try again!” He rolled his eyes, but didn’t get up from his spot. He’d gotten quite comfy, thanks to the ground that naturally felt like it was made of pillows. He knew that Rose would give him a smack when she did finally emerge, since she’d told him that he should wait to land until she’d made the cocoa with tiny marshmallows, but he’d been too excited to wait. 

As he stared up at the sky, he didn’t expect the sudden hum in his mind that could only come from a fairly strong telepath. He jolted upright and looked around. There were no intelligent beings living on this planet, and there were barely any telepaths left anywhere in the universe anyways, so he had no idea who it could be. If he wasn’t mistaken, he’d almost say it felt like a Time Lord, but it couldn’t be, because it had been less than a year ago that he’d made sure there would be none left. And it wasn’t some other version of himself, because he’d be able to feel it if he was.

Now the Doctor was glad that Rose was taking her sweet time in the kitchen, because whatever was out there couldn’t be good. He carefully withdrew his sonic screwdriver as he got to his feet. “I know you’re out there, so there’s no point in hiding.” 

There was a pause, and then the sound of someone shuffling closer, emerging from the cover of the trees that lined the clearing he’d landed in. It was dark out, but the Doctor had better eyesight than the average biped, and as soon as the figure stepped out of the shadows cast by the forest, he paused. 

The hair was a bit longer, the clothes were different, the face was a bit sharper, but still, there was no mistaking it. How could he not know what she looked like after they’d been traveling together for a few months now? “Rose?” And yet, if this was a future Rose, where was the future TARDIS and future Doctor? And why did he get such strong mental signals from her? There were many creatures capable of taking on others’ likenesses, and he wasn’t going to let his guard down now.

Rose moved closer, feet stumbling slightly, and the Doctor moved to steady her before he could even think about it. She gave him that familiar grin of hers. “Thanks,” she said softly, giving the Doctor a whiff of the alcohol in her breath. “It’s so nice to see you. You’re so… nice. I haven’t seen this you in forever.”

The Doctor’s widened. “This me? Does that mean I regenerated? And you stayed?”

Rose rolled her eyes, like that was the most ridiculous question she’d ever heard. She reached up to pat the center of the Doctor’s chest, between his two hearts. “‘Course I wasn’t gonna go anywhere. Wanna know why? Can I tell you a secret, Doctor?” He made a noise of agreement, which was apparently hilarious because Rose snorted. “Alright. I love you.” 

She said it so easily, so simply, as if the words didn’t suck all the air out of the Doctor’s lungs. He’d only known his Rose for a short amount of time, but he wasn’t ignorant to how much she had done for him. She had saved him, and made his life so much better, and she had a lovely laugh and a wonderful smile, and- but still, she was only a human. The Doctor had been left behind by so many of the short-lived creatures that he couldn’t possibly give his hearts away to one. Not like that. 

But she’d said it like it was something that had been said a thousand times before, and she looked at him expectantly, like she was waiting for him to say it back. How could he, though? Even if it was somehow true (and hadn’t that Dalek known before the Doctor had even been willing to think about it?), he couldn’t just say it back. He didn’t even know how far in the future this Rose was, and there were other things he needed to ask. “Why do you feel like a fully matured telepath?”

Rose laughed, and reached up to press one finger against her lips. “Shh. The future is a secret, remember?”

She didn’t try to move out of the Doctor’s arms, and even though he probably should have, he couldn’t find it within himself to let go of her. “Why were you drinking so heavily? Smells like it’s practically polish remover.”

“It was a celebration,” she told him in a tone of voice that made it seem like he should already know that. “Also, we didn’t exactly realize that Jack was going to spike the drinks.”

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows at the unfamiliar name, but decided that that wasn’t important at the moment. “Can you at least tell me what you were celebrating?”

The grin that Rose gave him looked bright enough to power an entire planet, and then she held up her hand to wave it around. Even in the dark, the Doctor could make out the glint of metal around one finger. “My wedding!”

Even though he had no right, the announcement still made the Doctor’s chest unfairly ache, and he breathed in sharply. “To this… Jack? Or Mickey, maybe?”

Rose looked confused for a moment. “I love you, Doctor,” she told him again, like maybe he somehow hadn’t understood the first time.

And clearly he hadn’t, but as he listened to her, he suddenly realized what she was saying. It was better than knowing she had married some random bloke, but also somehow infinitely worse. The Doctor thought he might have a pair of heart attacks or something in response. The mental signature wasn’t because Rose was a telepath, but because she was bonded to one. But how could the Doctor ever possibly agree to such a thing? She was just a fragile human, and even if she stayed with him for the rest of her life, she’d still be gone sooner than the Doctor cared to think about. There was just no way he could ever… and yet- he’d apparently regenerated, and she hadn’t run away. And she stayed with him even when they got into little spats all the time, and she looked so lovely as she starred up at him with the stars reflected in her eyes. 

He’d just been a miserable, broken old man when they’d met, and she’d saved him, and she wanted to be with him forever. “I love you too,” he blurted out before he could stop himself. It felt like such a mistake, and he immediately looked back to see if his Rose had come out and heard the confession. But the TARDIS doors were shut tight, and he wondered if his ship was conspiring against him. Or maybe conspiring for his sake, in this case. 

He turned back to Rose, and saw that she looked a bit less drunk, even though it had only been a few seconds. “Do you really mean that?” she whispered.

The Doctor knew that he should say no, say that it hadn’t been an intentional thing to say, that he’d just gotten caught up in the moment, and- and she looked at him with such a fragile hope in her eyes, and the Doctor didn’t think he was capable of saying anything to ruin that. “Wouldn’t have said it otherwise, would I have? If we- if we get married then you must hear it all the time. Though I suppose it would be different to hear it from this daft old face.”

Rose shook her head adamantly. “I love this face! It’s the first you that I ever knew, and the one I fell in love with first. And my husband loves me, I can tell,” she tapped the side of her head to indicate their bond, “but it’s hard for him to say the words, even now. So I treasure them each time I hear them.”

“When-” the Doctor started, but then cut himself off. Rose just looked at him curiously, though, and he sighed. “When was the first time he said it back?”

She grinned. “Ah, I don’t think I should tell you. I wouldn’t want a single detail of that moment to be different.” Then she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “I should probably go before he gets too worried.”

The Doctor looked around. “Where did you park? I’d have to forget seeing him anyways, but I want a glimpse of my future self.”

Rose shrugged. “Eh, I didn’t exactly… Well, you’ll find out someday. For now, I believe that you have a comet shower to be watching? Don’t worry, you’ll see me again in a minute, or in a few years, depending on how you look at it.” She started to leave, but then grabbed both of his hands to give them gentle squeezes. “I love you,” she said again. When he gave her a questioning look, she just smiled. “I want to make sure you don’t forget.”

The Doctor gulped, and wondered how he’d gotten in so deep when he still barely knew Rose- his Rose- at all. “Believe me, I doubt that I could ever forget this.” She seemed pleased with that answer, and then let go of his hand so she could smack herself in the forehead. “Oh, I’m so daft! You wouldn’t say it back ‘cause you already said it!” Then she leapt forward to give the Doctor one last hug, though she didn’t kiss him even when it seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was probably for the best, but the Doctor couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed as he watched her dance off into the woods again. 

He stared off after her until he heard the sound of the TARDIS doors opening, and Rose stepping out. “I think you need to oil these doors or somethin’, ‘cause they just got pretty stuck.”

The Doctor turned back to look at her, and couldn’t help but wonder. She looked so much younger, even though physically she looked almost exactly the same. How long in the future was this supposed wedding going to take place? He knew that the right thing to do would be to just forget about the entire encounter, but the Doctor instead grabbed Rose’s hand and tugged her closer, which meant her dropping the two cups of cocoa she’d been holding in one hand. “Come on, we’re here to look at the sky, remember?”

Rose shook her head in faux annoyance at the sight of the spilled beverages, though at least the mugs were alright because they’d just bounced lightly on the ground. “Well, I’m just glad we didn’t miss it.” Then she flopped down onto the ground, pulling the Doctor down with her, and they both stretched out and looked up at the sky. As Rose stared at the comets, the Doctor tilted his head to the side and watched her instead.  
,,,

The Doctor laughed as Donna finished her rant about why the Essentoterarians were so inconsiderate, and she threw her hands up in the air in annoyance. “You are insufferable,” she informed him. 

Before the Doctor could say that he was already well aware of that, he saw a worried look take over Donna's face. “Donna?”

She nodded off to somewhere behind him. “Looks like someone’s not too happy with you. Come on, let’s get out of here before you get both of our heads blasted off.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but his curiosity got the better of him and he just had to look. They’d had such a peaceful visit here (aside from the few natives that had side-eyed Donna once she’d started ordering them around), and he couldn’t imagine why anyone would be a threat to him. 

He could see why Donna had been worried, since the first thing he spotted on the somewhat distant figure was a very large gun. But as they moved closer, he could hear an impossibly familiar voice calling out. “Doctor! Wait! Don’t go!” 

If Donna hadn’t pointed the approaching figure out, he would have just stepped into the TARDIS and not heard her at all. Instead, though, he rushed to meet her halfway, taking in every detail as he got close enough to spot them. That familiar blonde hair, a blue leather jacket he’d never seen before, a gun that looked bigger than she was. She dropped the gun to run towards him even faster, and they collided head on as they pulled each other into a tight hug, and then they both dropped to their knees as they held each other.

The Doctor never wanted to let go, but he finally pulled back just enough to look at those warm brown eyes that had haunted his dreams ever since he’d lost her. “Rose, how-?”

“I’ve been looking for you, and I-” They were both too overwhelmed to get out better questions or explanations, but the Doctor just knew that this was really Rose, his Rose. “I’ve missed you so much, Doctor!”

“I’ve missed you too. Oh, Rose, I should have told you when I had the chance, but I couldn’t bear for those to be my last words to you, and-” She cut him off with a kiss, and it felt so natural, like they’d been kissing for years and not just dancing around each other. “I love you,” he told her. And it wasn’t his first time saying those words to her, but it was her first time hearing them.

Tears started to fall down her cheeks, but the Doctor knew that they were not tears of sadness. “I love you too, Doctor. I should have told you the first time I was ready to, but I just-” And it wasn’t the Doctor's first time hearing those words from her, but it was the first time she’d said them, so it felt perfect.

He gave her another soft kiss. “It’s alright. You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

Rose nodded. “Yeah.” She pulled off the complicated looking device that had been wrapped around her wrist, and tossed it aside. “I don’t need that anymore, because I’ve finally found you.” 

They were interrupted from staring into each other’s eyes when Donna stomped over to them. “Oi, are you just going to sit there snogging all day, or are you going to introduce me?”

The Doctor laughed as he slowly got to his feet, and pulled Rose up as well. “Ah, my apologies. Rose, this is Donna Noble. Donna, this is Rose Tyler.”

The two women sized each other up for a moment, and then they both let out startled laughs. “I’m such an idiot,” Rose moaned. “If I’d just followed you-”

“No time worrying about the what-ifs now,” Donna butted in. Then she suddenly pulled Rose into a hug. “Finally, someone else who can help me keep this idiot alive.”

The Doctor protested, but he didn’t really care about the insult. It was actually probably one of the nicer things Donna had ever called him. And besides, how could he possibly be unhappy now, when he had Rose Tyler with him again? He had to resist the urge to pull Rose away from Donna so that he could hug her again. And maybe some more kissing, as well.

Later, when all three of them were on the TARDIS and Donna had disappeared off to her room after making several disturbing innuendos, the Doctor held Rose’s hands, and looked into her eyes. “Rose, can I tell you a secret?” She raised one eyebrow and waited. “I want to spend forever with you,” he said softly.

There was an impossible amount of affection in Rose’s eyes when she responded. “I don’t think that was much of a secret.”

“I want to marry you.”

That made her eyes widen in surprise, but before the Doctor could wonder if that was too much too soon, Rose stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around her neck. “Now that one I didn’t know.” Then she gave the Doctor a long kiss before pulling away. “It would be my pleasure to marry you.” And maybe neither of them had said their first ‘I-love-you’s at the right time, but none of that mattered anymore, because they were finally both on the same page, and it was the best damn page the Doctor had ever read.


End file.
